Mozilla considers tracking Firefox browsing habits - bit-tech.net Forums

CardJoe · 20th May 2008, 12:20

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/05...wsing-habits/1

Mozilla CEO John Lilly has revealed that the Firefox developer is considering tracking users' browsing habits on a voluntary basis.

Angleus · 20th May 2008, 12:42

No.

Veles · 20th May 2008, 12:44

Yeah count me out, if they could keep the data anonymous then maybe because it would actually be quite interesting, but I don't see that happening.

sotu1 · 20th May 2008, 12:50

i got a lot more faith in mozilla than i do in aol, but still a no. don't know why, just don't like the idea.

bowman · 20th May 2008, 13:00

'a project that is said to collect data on users’ browsing habits if they chose to opt into the scheme'

IF THEY CHOOSE TO OPT INTO THE SCHEME.

I'll hold my breath until we know how this pans out, and whether or not he's being truthful.. Or if they'll just be another company abusing the market share of their new software by collecting user statistics whether they want it or not.

They have this market share due to the browser being perceived as safer and more trustworthy than IE. IE already stole all the user-friendly features, so it's all they have left. If they squander that by bundling what amounts to malware in my eyes with the browser.. That share will plummet. I sure hope they don't go down this road.

naokaji · 20th May 2008, 13:03

If you opt-in then its a feature to enhance your experience, or dont opt-in, then its a oops if they get caught doing it anyway...

g3n3tiX · 20th May 2008, 13:04

I hope we will NOT be giving this info by default, otherwise lots of people will just click "opt in" because there is the word "recommended" next to it.

steveo_mcg · 20th May 2008, 13:34

It is foss, you could always patch it and compile it your self not to include this. I agree with the sentiment though, count me out.

Delphium · 20th May 2008, 13:44

DO NOT WANT!

Firehed · 20th May 2008, 13:50

If it's opt-in, then by all means. Not that I would opt-in.

Freedom · 20th May 2008, 13:58

I can see certain people being very childish over this and shout me not want. But as long as it's op-in I don't see why they shouldn't include it in there program. I must say i wouldn't opt in myself though. As they've said it would run anonymously.

Shielder · 20th May 2008, 13:59

From what is being said on the Mozillazine.org forums, it looks like this may be "opt-in" via an add-on. So you've got to add the functionality in before any data is sent to Mozilla.

IMO it is a bad idea anyway, and I'll not be using FF or Thunderbird if this goes ahead, opt-in or not. The major problem that Mozilla have here is that this is being seen as Spyware, and that is generally seen as a very bad thing, no matter who has written it.

Andy

DXR_13KE · 20th May 2008, 14:14

put on your tin hats people!! it is optional!

as for me, i will chose to help out.

Javerh · 20th May 2008, 14:58

So they just figured out what demo-testing means? But they don't want to pay for it.

cpemma · 20th May 2008, 15:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by DXR_13KE

put on your tin hats people!! it is optional!

as for me, i will chose to help out.

The first person to actually show practical support for OSS.

99.999% of OSS users are just free-loaders.

Firehed · 20th May 2008, 15:09

Well that's a hazard of creating OSS, cpemma. I've certainly made no contributions back to the Wordpress codebase despite using it, nor PHPBB back when I was running a forum. Certainly not Firefox, though I'm not a desktop developer. There was a web snippet for geo-location that I did make the author aware of a bug and respective fix, though from what I've seen it wasn't implemented (except in my own code, but that's not my problem).

steveo_mcg · 20th May 2008, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpemma

The first person to actually show practical support for OSS.

99.999% of OSS users are just free-loaders.

I don't think thats fair, there is a lot of value in just running software and submitting bug reports when they arise. Not every one can be a developer, besides that Mozilla is making a small fortune from the ad revenue from google just for having the search bar in the top.

Given the volume of software which is pirated or used as freeware most computer users are free-loaders

freedom810 · 20th May 2008, 15:19

Ye its optional, so no-one will care....count me out.

Glider · 20th May 2008, 15:33

I'd opt in... I actually like to let developers know that I spend the average 0.2 seconds on fugly flash sites...

Shielder · 20th May 2008, 15:50

Do I take it that you like having a libel action taken against you cpemma?

I use OSS, and I support it wherever I can, yes, even paying (via my employer) for OSS instead of using the free version on the net. So labelling OSS users as free-loaders is not a good idea.

Oh, and this post is slightly tongue in cheek

Andy

20th May 2008, 12:20	#1
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7,940	Mozilla considers tracking Firefox browsing habits http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/05...wsing-habits/1 Mozilla CEO John Lilly has revealed that the Firefox developer is considering tracking users' browsing habits on a voluntary basis. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

20th May 2008, 12:42	#2
Angleus Hypermodder Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Soton / S.E. LDN Posts: 629	No. __________________ C2D E6550 / ASUS P5KC / 4gb Corsair XMS2 6400 / XFX 8800 GTX / 2 x WD 160GB SATA 1 x 250GB WD SATA / X-Fi Xtreme I need a Mac! PM me please if you have one available

20th May 2008, 12:50	#4
sotu1 Mini Love Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: England, South of. Posts: 1,167	i got a lot more faith in mozilla than i do in aol, but still a no. don't know why, just don't like the idea. __________________ Death to consolification !!! [size=1]Give me my Windforce! I'm coming back!

20th May 2008, 13:04	#7
g3n3tiX Resident frenchie Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: localhost Posts: 588	I hope we will NOT be giving this info by default, otherwise lots of people will just click "opt in" because there is the word "recommended" next to it. __________________ I also have a MTBF.

20th May 2008, 13:34	#8
steveo_mcg What owl? Join Date: May 2005 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 3,975	It is foss, you could always patch it and compile it your self not to include this. I agree with the sentiment though, count me out. __________________ No boom today, boom tomorrow... there's always a boom tomorrow.

20th May 2008, 13:00	#5
bowman Multimodder Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 249	'a project that is said to collect data on users’ browsing habits if they chose to opt into the scheme' IF THEY CHOOSE TO OPT INTO THE SCHEME. I'll hold my breath until we know how this pans out, and whether or not he's being truthful.. Or if they'll just be another company abusing the market share of their new software by collecting user statistics whether they want it or not. They have this market share due to the browser being perceived as safer and more trustworthy than IE. IE already stole all the user-friendly features, so it's all they have left. If they squander that by bundling what amounts to malware in my eyes with the browser.. That share will plummet. I sure hope they don't go down this road.

20th May 2008, 13:44	#9
Delphium You there computer man fix my pants Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: on teh interwebz Posts: 1,254	DO NOT WANT! __________________ \| Asus P5N32-E SLI \| Q6600 G0 @3.0ghz Watercooled \| 8GB Corsair Dominator PC8500 @1066mhz 5-5-5-15 2T \| XFX GTX285 \| BFG 8800GTS \| XFX 9600GT \| 1x 128GB Crucial M225 SSD \| 5x 500GB Seagate SATA-II \| BFG 800W SLI PSU \| Creative X-Fi Music \| Logitech Z-5500 5.1ch speakers \| 3x Dell S2209W 22"wide TFT's (5760x1080res) \| 1x Panasonic 42"Plasma \| All working on Win7 Ultimate x64 \|

20th May 2008, 13:50	#10
Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An hour north of Boston Posts: 12,576	If it's opt-in, then by all means. Not that I would opt-in. __________________ hire me @ eric-stern.com - web developer and php ninja pics @ my smugmug :: Twitter @firehed :: blog @ firehed.net 40D\|580EXII\|285HV\|AB800\|70-200f/4LIS\|17-50f/2.8\|150f/2.8Macro\|50f/1.8 MacPro @ 8x2.8GHz, 10GB FBDDR2, 3TB HD :: MBP @ 2x2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HD

20th May 2008, 13:58	#11
Freedom Hypermodder Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Manchester England Posts: 603	I can see certain people being very childish over this and shout me not want. But as long as it's op-in I don't see why they shouldn't include it in there program. I must say i wouldn't opt in myself though. As they've said it would run anonymously.

20th May 2008, 13:59	#12
Shielder Live long & prosper! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Northwich, UK Posts: 515	From what is being said on the Mozillazine.org forums, it looks like this may be "opt-in" via an add-on. So you've got to add the functionality in before any data is sent to Mozilla. IMO it is a bad idea anyway, and I'll not be using FF or Thunderbird if this goes ahead, opt-in or not. The major problem that Mozilla have here is that this is being seen as Spyware, and that is generally seen as a very bad thing, no matter who has written it. Andy __________________ New Rig: GA-X38-DS5, Q6600 (running at stock until I get everything installed), 8GB OCZ RAM (not sure on timings), Inno3D 8800 GTS 512, Noctua NH-U12P heat sink, Hiper Type M 580, 4 HDDs, 2 opticals, Saitek Eclipse II keyboard, Sharkoon Rush gaming mouse, Samsung 2220WM monitor, running XP SP2 (32-bit), Vista HP (x64) and Fedora 9 Beta (x86-64).

20th May 2008, 14:14	#13
DXR_13KE Madeira's banana is the best!!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Madeira ; Portugal Posts: 6,465	put on your tin hats people!! it is optional! as for me, i will chose to help out. __________________ *Renegade X - 0.40 Release!* <---- CLICK!

20th May 2008, 14:58	#14
Javerh Superfreak Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tampere, Finland Posts: 650	So they just figured out what demo-testing means? But they don't want to pay for it. __________________ Project: Seawolf "Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them."

20th May 2008, 15:09	#16
Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match. Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An hour north of Boston Posts: 12,576	Well that's a hazard of creating OSS, cpemma. I've certainly made no contributions back to the Wordpress codebase despite using it, nor PHPBB back when I was running a forum. Certainly not Firefox, though I'm not a desktop developer. There was a web snippet for geo-location that I did make the author aware of a bug and respective fix, though from what I've seen it wasn't implemented (except in my own code, but that's not my problem). __________________ hire me @ eric-stern.com - web developer and php ninja pics @ my smugmug :: Twitter @firehed :: blog @ firehed.net 40D\|580EXII\|285HV\|AB800\|70-200f/4LIS\|17-50f/2.8\|150f/2.8Macro\|50f/1.8 MacPro @ 8x2.8GHz, 10GB FBDDR2, 3TB HD :: MBP @ 2x2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HD

20th May 2008, 15:19	#18
freedom810 Supermodder Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: UK, Worcestershire, Worcester Posts: 564	Ye its optional, so no-one will care....count me out. __________________ Save My Mini city! Save my Industry!

20th May 2008, 15:33	#19
Glider /dev/null Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Belgium Posts: 4,102	I'd opt in... I actually like to let developers know that I spend the average 0.2 seconds on fugly flash sites... __________________ There Are 10 Types Of People, Those Who Know Binary and Those Who Don't

20th May 2008, 15:50	#20
Shielder Live long & prosper! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Northwich, UK Posts: 515	Do I take it that you like having a libel action taken against you cpemma? I use OSS, and I support it wherever I can, yes, even paying (via my employer) for OSS instead of using the free version on the net. So labelling OSS users as free-loaders is not a good idea. Oh, and this post is slightly tongue in cheek Andy __________________ New Rig: GA-X38-DS5, Q6600 (running at stock until I get everything installed), 8GB OCZ RAM (not sure on timings), Inno3D 8800 GTS 512, Noctua NH-U12P heat sink, Hiper Type M 580, 4 HDDs, 2 opticals, Saitek Eclipse II keyboard, Sharkoon Rush gaming mouse, Samsung 2220WM monitor, running XP SP2 (32-bit), Vista HP (x64) and Fedora 9 Beta (x86-64).